The big new unannounced feature in 5.4

[Jabari]

I am glad I can get the weekly done in about 2 hours though

Why do you want to do the weekly? I've done it once, but I can't see why I should do it again. The rewards are underwhelming and it seems a very time inefficient way to get VPs.

If it's taking you 2 hours to do that you're doing something drastically wrong. Had a few guildies do that start to finish in about 30 minutes last night...

Not sure there's a more efficient way to get VP than that.

[benebarba]

I am glad I can get the weekly done in about 2 hours though

Why do you want to do the weekly? I've done it once, but I can't see why I should do it again. The rewards are underwhelming and it seems a very time inefficient way to get VPs.

If it's taking you 2 hours to do that you're doing something drastically wrong. Had a few guildies do that start to finish in about 30 minutes last night...

Not sure there's a more efficient way to get VP than that.

there's a big unmentioned YMMV tag in there...

I've had as long as about 2 hours (doing various things at the same time, and I think this was before I knew about the commanders), and as little as maybe 10-20 minutes. Depends on how you do them, your server traffic, when you do them, how much you go over on each resource and if you go back and help others later in the week.

[Flex]

Well you do it once for the achi and pet, second time for the brawler guild boss, then done i guess.

Pretty decent way to gear up alts if your guild actually puts Latent armor drops into the guild bank or mails them to people who need them. Replaced my last blue on my alt hunter and have made 3 pieces for my alt paladin.

Personally, I find the current telling of the horde/alliance story to be terribly boring

I found the 5.1 stuff really good. 5.2 less but that wasn't focused on the conflict as much. Part of the issue is the delay between moving parts. 5.1 came out a while back and only picked up now in 5.3. That said C4T needs to be used in the raid.

[benebarba]

Personally, I find the current telling of the horde/alliance story to be terribly boring

I found the 5.1 stuff really good. 5.2 less but that wasn't focused on the conflict as much. Part of the issue is the delay between moving parts. 5.1 came out a while back and only picked up now in 5.3. That said C4T needs to be used in the raid.

Yeah, I liked the 5.1 stuff too. Heck I even like the little bit about Shao Hao... though I felt that may have deserved a bit more than essentially a passing mention.

You make a good point about the pacing (and wtb C4T engineering pattern), and I think it may be a big part of the problem. Taking part in the big push to destroy a resurrected god-like figure who inspired fear in *several races, including two that he created, to this day* then being asked to go pick up scraps in the barrens after a little bit of recon is a bit of a stark contrast too. (BTW: when did the trolls lose their sanitary practices? did Garrosh remove the trash bins and toilets when he heard about the rebellion? The Zandalari seemed to have fewer issues even with all the corpses hanging around)

[Flex]

(and wtb C4T engineering pattern)

Fluxfire Feline in Gnome starting area. Capture your C4T today!

[benebarba]

(and wtb C4T engineering pattern)

Fluxfire Feline in Gnome starting area. Capture your C4T today!

the mechanical bear cub in winterspring may have also convinced me to level my pets

[halabar]

there's a big unmentioned YMMV tag in there...

I've had as long as about 2 hours (doing various things at the same time, and I think this was before I knew about the commanders), and as little as maybe 10-20 minutes. Depends on how you do them, your server traffic, when you do them, how much you go over on each resource and if you go back and help others later in the week.

One other part to this.. you can save that shit up. So go out one Saturday afternoon when traffic is high, run around with the crowd and farm 900 of each, and you have the weekly done for the next 5 weeks besides the current one.

[benebarba]

there's a big unmentioned YMMV tag in there...

I've had as long as about 2 hours (doing various things at the same time, and I think this was before I knew about the commanders), and as little as maybe 10-20 minutes. Depends on how you do them, your server traffic, when you do them, how much you go over on each resource and if you go back and help others later in the week.

One other part to this.. you can save that shit up. So go out one Saturday afternoon when traffic is high, run around with the crowd and farm 900 of each, and you have the weekly done for the next 5 weeks besides the current one.

yup! it's awesome for those days where you just wanna kill some mobs.

[Teranoid]

Not to mention it makes valor capping alts stupid easy assuming you cap your main. Isle Summons (225) + Weekly barrens (300) + 1 heroic scenario (180 even if you don't make the timer) = congratulations you're 2/3rds of the way to being capped on your alt in less than 2 hours.

[Flex]

(and wtb C4T engineering pattern)

Fluxfire Feline in Gnome starting area. Capture your C4T today!

the mechanical bear cub in winterspring may have also convinced me to level my pets

They also did mention that 5.3 story content was not pre-planned. They wanted a little more set up for all the stuff that will be coming in the 5.4 patch.

[benebarba]

where did they say that? I mean, I don't follow everything the devs say, nor all the blogs... but that seems like a pretty big admission.

[Flex]

If I remember correctly it was in one of the many pre-patch interviews that the Barrens events were not part of the original plan for the patch at the initial expansion roadmap and were added in after 5.2 to help flesh out some things for future patches.

[Koatanga]

The barrens is what I have been asking for. I can satisfy my need for extra valor and lesser charms in one day on the weekend rather than having to grind dailies during the week. When I team up my prot pally with my wife's chain-lightning-bot Ele Shaman, it all goes quite quickly.

[Fetzie]

Could it possibly be access to cross-region servers without the need for a second account? They've been doing it in Diablo 3 for a year now and the new desktop chat app looks like you can chat cross-region to battle.net/RealID friends.

[Nikachelle]

Could it possibly be access to cross-region servers without the need for a second account? They've been doing it in Diablo 3 for a year now and the new desktop chat app looks like you can chat cross-region to battle.net/RealID friends.

I don't even think this is possible due to regional restrictions. The game isn't marketed to the same audience worldwide (i.e., ratings, some in game content, etc.). It's less a coding issue (although it is one at that) and more a "different countries have different regulations".

[Winkle]

Actual feature announced here: http://us.battle.net/wow/en/blog/10175200